Broken Nintendo Gamecube Lense

Ok, I think I had written about this before somewhere, but I haven't found it anywhere. If someone finds a topic like it, let me know.

Anyway, for quite some time now, my gamecube lense (I believe) has been trashed. Anytime I start a game, it plays for 5 minutes, then says it can't read the disc. I can open the tray and close it again and it'll play for another 5 minutes. I tried tipping it upside down and it'll play for maybe 10 minutes. I tried using a soft cloth to clean it, but it didn't seem to do anything, and I'm afraid to try like a glass cleaner or anything on it.

I stopped playing it a while ago cuz I figured it would only get worse. So any ideas what I can do?

Denatured alcohol. You can find it at walmart, kmart, or any kind of hardware store. It's fantastic stuff, cleans cart games, dvds, cds, laser lenses, etc. A must have for any video game junkie. The stuff comes in a large can and will last a lifetime unless you leave it open when you're not using it, it evaporates very quickly. Some people use rubbing alcohol for stuff like this but when rubbing alcohol evaporates it leaves a residue and in the long run is counterproductive.

Unfortunatly your problem sounds less like a dirty lens and more mechanical. Gamecubes are a dime a dozen now and you'd prolly be better off trying to buy a used one than getting yours repaired. If you're ebay savvy and good at electronical repair you can swap out the lens or the whole mechanism that has the lens with it but sometimes it's just cheaper to get a new one. You'll also need a security bit set to open the cube up, mcm sells them as well as a lot of ebayers and online game retailers.

Hope this helped, good luck

Gamecubes are a dime a dozen now

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Lol, as true as this may be, I like to keep what I can and make sure it stays working. This would be the first system I would ever have to replace, which is kinda sad. It also helps to know some of this stuff for later.

Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll have to get some of that stuff and try it out. I'll let you know how it works.

it's fairly rare for the actual lens to go bad. Usually it's just dirty or the alignment is off. If after trying some cleaning methods it won't work, take it to a cd repair shop and see if they could realign or fix it.